By Chance
by janeshepard
Summary: When Rukia moves into a new apartment, she finds more than she ever knew she was looking for. Alternate Universe, Slow Burn, Rating expected to change.


Hey guys! I just really wanted to do a long fic for this couple. Let me know if you like the idea and want me to keep going :) Cross posting from AO3

It was an innocent enough package; the box, an explosion of pastel colors, was tied delicately with a thin white string. Separately attached was a small pink note card, and she could just make out black ink from her standing height. Curious, Rukia knelt down and picked up the parcel; her eyes widened in surprise when it turned out to be much, much heavier than she originally anticipated. What was in there, a brick? She reached into her jacket pocket, retrieving her keys to unlock her apartment door. The faster she got inside, the faster she could unwrap the thing.

Rukia hit the light in the entryway, closing the door and locking it behind her. This was a new home to her, and she had no idea what the neighbors, or neighborhood, was like. There was no way in hell she would be so trusting so soon.

Her apartment was small, but not overly so. It was honestly just big enough for a single person to reside in, and that's all she needed. There were no holes in the walls and no roaches in the cupboards so honestly, it was much better than the last place.

She walked in further, turning the corner to get to her minuscule kitchen and threw her keys and the package onto the white counter top; the thing thunked as it landed. An arms length away was the fridge, and she opened it to grab a bottle of water; the winter was so damn dry. Everything about her felt dry; her skin, her lips, her throat, and apparently her sense of humor according to Renji.

She took a long swig of the cold water, grateful she had remembered to pick up a flat of it before moving the rest of her stuff in yesterday. The tap water was not any good; at least not now. Maybe it would get better now that someone was running water all the time. The landlord had said no one lived in this particular apartment for a little over a year now; something about fixing the last tenants huge mess and a sudden low in the housing market. Whatever; she was grateful to have found this place. It was only ten minutes from her school, which was phenomenal. With the shorter walk she got to sleep in a bit longer each day, which is great when you had to sign up for an 8 am to make time for part time afternoon work.

Her eyes moved back to the parcel on the counter, curiosity back front and center in her mind. She walked to the counter, setting down her bottle of water in favor of the colored box. Her small hands easily untied the string, and she folded back the cardboard to see a dark loaf of bread in a baggie. She grabbed the little note card and unfolded it, quickly scanning the paper.

 _Welcome to the building! If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Come for tea sometime! I'm in #22._

-Orihime Inoue

That was awfully friendly. Maybe she was a nice little old lady that kept tabs on her floors inhabitants? Or maybe she was a creepy little old lady that watched the floor much too closely. Either way, she wasn't sure she should really eat pastries that were left on her doorstep. Wasn't that how stupid people got poisoned?

It looked harmless enough though; a wrapped loaf of bread. She opened the baggie, and the smell of bananas washed over her senses. So a banana bread. There were little lumps all over, just under the crust of the bread. Banana nut bread? Banana chocolate chip bread? Wouldn't the nice little old lady have labeled the ingredients in it for allergies at least?

She put it back into the plastic and sealed it, not wanting to die because she was too trusting, but also not wanting to throw away a gift of good will from someone on her floor. Someone who lived right across from her in fact; 22 was what the note had said right? She reread it before placing it next to the unwrapped parcel and moving to the living room. After turning on her lamp, she curled into the side of the couch and turned on the tv; it was really just for background noise. She had a lot of homework to get done tonight, and she had a time limit too; it was only Wednesday, so she had school tomorrow morning.

Rukia pulled her laptop off of the table and flipped it open, logging quickly onto the school website. She sighed, not looking forward to the work to be done. It had to be done though, and she knew that.

When 10:00pm rolled around, she closed her laptop, satisfied with the work she had finished. She stood, stretching out her small body and cracking what seemed like every joint she had. She had forgotten to eat again, and mentally criticized herself for it. It wasn't so hard to take a break for supper, but she just never remembered to. Rukia was pretty sure there were some granola bars in the cupboard next to the fridge though. She swung around to the kitchen, and opened the cabinet. Bingo! She reached in and pulled out the box, sliding a bar out of the cardboard. She unwrapped it and took a bite, staring at the loaf on the counter again.

What really were the odds she would be poisoned and die because a nice woman had left her a gift? She walked over to it and opened the baggie again, pinching off a corner of the moist, surprisingly dense bread between her thumb and pointer finger. She sniffed it, and it smelled innocent, yet odd. Whatever, if it was poisoned a piece this small probably wouldn't be enough to finish the job, just make her shit out her organs for a day or two.

She popped the little piece into her mouth and chewed slowly, tasting the banana and something else unexpected. It was kind of salty, and crunchy, but it wasn't a walnut. Was that...bacon? Yes, she was sure of it. A confused look crossed her face as she swallowed, and she quickly pinched off another little piece, sure by now she wasn't gonna die from it. She put it in her mouth and chewed again, this time a bit faster as she confirmed what she had thought. That was definitely bacon. Maybe the lady couldn't see so well anymore and had grabbed her bacon bits instead of something else? Strange. It wasn't exactly bad, but she didn't have any further desire to eat this bread. She sealed the baggie for the last time and walked to the garbage, flipping the lid with her foot before dropping the heavy loaf in. She still felt a little bad, but at least she had tried it.

With that, she grabbed her granola bar, hit the final light in the hallway, and walked into her room for bed.

Morning came around much too quickly. She snatched up her phone, hitting the snooze option on the screen almost immediately. The room became dark again, and she angrily closed her eyes and fell back asleep. When the alarm went off the second time Rukia turned off the setting and grumbled, rolling out of the covers and into the day, as she did every morning. She knew from experience that if she hit the snooze twice, she wouldn't have enough time to get ready.

She squeezed her eyes shut as she turned on the light, a habit formed long ago as a child. She knew it was silly, and that her eyes would just have to wait longer to adjust because of it, but she didn't care. In her mind it made it better, so she did it.

After showering and dressing, Rukia grabbed an apple and a water from the fridge and briskly walked to the door, throwing them in her backpack as she went. With her jacket buttoned, earmuffs on, and mittens firmly in place, she slid into her boots (lace-less for quick getaways) and opened the door. She stepped out into the overly warm hallway and locked up behind her before she headed for the stairs. A woman was already ahead of her, about halfway down the steps. She was well bundled for the winter weather, with a green peacoat and matching wool hat. A cascade of auburn hair flowed out from beneath her hat, just barely passing her bottom in length. Rukia absently wondered how many years her hair had gone uncut. A strong fragrance filled her nose, but she couldn't quite place it. Perhaps a flower of some sort? It was pleasant.

Rukia followed her down the short flight, and the taller woman turned to gaze at her as she stepped out into the cold first and held the door open.

"Good morning!" The red head practically beamed, her eyes bright and her smile wide. Rukia was taken a bit off guard; no one was this chipper and put together at 7:45 in the morning. Her appearance was also a bit surprising; from behind Rukia couldn't tell, but she had curves like a model, and eyes the color of rich milk chocolate. Altogether a very attractive person.

"Good morning." Rukia replied, flashing a smile of her own. She murmured a low thanks as she passed into the cold.

Rukia turned right onto the powdered sidewalk; thankfully, the snow last night had been light, and she didn't have to worry about slipping or trudging.

She heard footsteps speed up behind her, and a moment later, the girl from the building was by her side. "You just moved into 21 right?" Her ringing voice asked, a curious look across her face.

"Yeah." Rukia replied, not quite comfortable with the unexpected exchange. But she didn't let that show on her face; as far as she knew this girl was just being friendly. No need to be rude.

"Sorry." The taller woman replied. "I saw you moving some thing's in yesterday, so I recognized you. Did you get my bread?" She beamed at Rukia, excited for her answer.

"You're Orihime?" So the bread wasn't from a little old woman, but a cheery young lady. Not exactly what she had pictured.

"Mmmhmm." She replied, latching her hands behind her back. A reddish tint was starting to spread over her cheeks from the cold breeze, which only added to her friendly look.

"Ah yes I did, thank you." Rukia replied then, sure to leave out any opinion she may have about the sweet. So the bacon wasn't a mistake?

"You're welcome!" Somehow, Orihime became even happier. Rukia was scared she might explode by the look the crossed her face. "I wasn't sure if you liked bananas or not but it seemed like a pretty safe bet because who doesn't like bananas? And Tatsuki always says they're really good for you after an exercise so I thought you might need it after hauling in all those boxes." A moment passed before she seemed to realize Rukia wouldn't know who Tatsuki was. "Oh uh Tatsuki is my best friend." She smiled down at Rukia before looking ahead again, the morning falling back into silence.

Rukia tucked a wind teased strand of hair behind her ear before she chanced a look at Orihime again. She seemed harmless; just a nice, talkative person. Upon second glance, she figured that she must be close to her in age, 21 give or take, and could possibly be headed to the same destination; she wore a bright backpack. It had an array of keychains hanging from one of the zipper's pull tabs, and from them she recognized a couple including chappy the bunny and a small Don Kanonji.

Before she could ask, Orihime breached the silence. "Are you a student at Karakura University?" Her voice reminded Rukia of a bell.

"Yes." Rukia replied, turning to meet Orihime's eyes as she did so. "You too?"

"Yup; I'm a Sophomore, studying early childhood. What about you?" Orihime's hands came unclapsed as she brought them around and shoved them into her pockets; the morning air was beginning to get a little cold.

So she probably was 20, and definitely the sweet type. "I'm Rukia, by the way." She felt weird having Orihime's name while she stayed in the dark. "I'm a Junior, studying Biology. I'm working towards becoming a vet."

"Oh how neat!" Orihime replied as she hit a walk button, and they both stopped to wait for the light to say they were safe to cross. Orihime's tone was neither condescending nor disinterested. Rukia didn't really find anything 'neat' about her major, but for some reason this girl seemed to find some sort of joy in everything. How….refreshing. Most of her friends tended to think a bit negatively, so her enthusiasm was a nice change. "That's a lot of school though, you must be very committed!"

"I try to be." Rukia smiled at her before looking both ways and crossing quickly; the light was over ridiculously fast. How annoying; she mentally filed the information away for future trips down this road.

There was another pause in the conversation as they continued to walk, and the sounds of crunching snow and driving cars flowed in around them. Rukia never disliked the winter, in fact, it was her favorite season. Sure, sometimes it was long and cold, but there was something so magical about the fluffy flakes and the reflected light. She still felt a wave of nostalgia every year when she woke to see the light through the window was a bit different, and sure enough, the ground was covered in a blanket of white.

Before the silence could get too awkward, Orihime turned to Rukia and smiled. "I'm glad you're my new neighbor; you're so nice." She turned back to the road then, and they began to cross the final street that would lead them to the schools doors.

Again, Rukia was taken off guard. "Oh; Thank you." She stepped up onto the curb and started in the direction of the big glass doors. "You're really nice too." She gave a short chuckle and continued her path. She grabbed the handle of the door once she had made it all the way; it was still cold, even through her mittens. Returning the favor, she stood back and held it open for Orihime and a couple other students who had walked up behind them. Orihime stood just inside, waiting for Rukia to let herself in.

"I'm off to the left wing; are you headed that way?" She asked, bringing her hands around to pull her incredibly long hair out of her face and back to where it was.

"Nope; I'm off this way." She replied, pointing towards the right. All the buildings of the university were connected by hallways and tunnels; it was built that way for ease of access to the students. This way you never had to bundle up to get to a different building, or walk a mile around the long way for your next class. The science building connected to the right of the main entrance.

"Alright, have a nice day! I'll see you around Rukia." The red head waved her hand and turned on her heel to walk in the opposite direction.

"See ya." Rukia replied, adjusting her backpack before she turned as well. So that was nice; she was beginning to think she wouldn't mind seeing Orihime around.

As her boots clunked over the scuffed linoleum, she rolled her eyes, suddenly remembering her forgotten breakfast. She hadn't even thought of it while she was walking to school with Orihime. Oh well, maybe she could sneak it in class.

Rukia walked into the lab and stopped at her seat, removing her jacket and mittens and ear muffs. After sliding her books and such out of the backpack, she replaced them with her jacket and mittens and hung her coat over the back of her seat.

There weren't too many people around yet; apparently she was a little early. Maybe her estimate on school distance was higher than it should be. Or keeping up with Orihime's longer legs really payed off. Whatever it was, she had a little time to play on her phone now. Rukia pulled out the sleek device and opened up her messages, trying to respond to them before class started.

Kaien had asked how everything was going apartment wise, and Rangiku already wanted to know if she could go out tonight. Ever since Rukia had turned twenty one she had been promoted from designated driver to a participating partier. It was flattering, and loads of fun, but she tried not to do it too often. She liked to keep her homework up to date and finished, and sometimes going out got in the way of that; plus it sucked to go to work hung over. Since she was on the schedule for tomorrow afternoon, that was a no for Rangiku.

Everything is going great. The apartment is just nice enough and I think it's even closer to school than I thought.

Usually she liked to leave a little something for the person to reply to, but class was just about starting now, so she sent it off quickly and slid her phone in her backpack pocket before turning her attention to the front of the class.


End file.
